Tossed Down by the Rising Waves (Sudjinah, Prison Memoir)
English typescript prison memoir by Sudjinah, Gerwani translator and journalist (c. 2000): courier in 1945-49, WIDF secretariat in Berlin, Gerwani HQ in 1965, capture in 1967, torture and detention at Bukit Duri and Tangerang. Key Gerwani survivor memoir.
Women in prison: tears at Bukit Duri (photo story, Berita Harian, 1965)
Berita Harian, 9 December 1965, p. 4: UPI photographer Kurnipi visits Bukit Duri women's prison, Jakarta (about 110 detainees), among them Gerwani leaders and MPs Salawati Daud and Umi Sardjono, plus Emi binti Madali, 20, who 'confessed' to killing General Yani, and two small children jailed with their mothers. Women p
The forgotten massacre: 'More killed than in Vietnam so far'
Tribune (Sydney), 21 Jan 1970, p. 8: extract from Hong Kong's Eastern Horizon of letters by an Indonesian writing as 'Barbro Karabuda' on the 1965-66 massacre and prisoners (official 86,000 detainees; torture; Army extortion). The writer finds Tanti Aidit in Bukit Duri women's prison in Jakarta with Aidit's mother-in-l
The forgotten massacre: 'More killed than in Vietnam so far'
Tribune (Sydney), 21 Jan 1970, p. 8: extract from Hong Kong's Eastern Horizon of letters by an Indonesian writing as 'Barbro Karabuda' on the 1965-66 massacre and prisoners (official 86,000 detainees; torture; Army extortion). The writer finds Tanti Aidit in Bukit Duri women's prison in Jakarta with Aidit's mother-in-l
FCO 24/1701: Political Detainees in Indonesia (1973)
UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office file FCO 24/1701 (1973), a TNA volume on political detainees in Indonesia. It holds briefing notes, minutes and parliamentary questions on the 1973 State Visit, the Budiardjo case and Amnesty International's campaign, plus a bound copy of Amnesty's 1973 'Indonesia Special'. In that re
Women, mothers (what Suharto's envoys kept silent about)
De Waarheid, 20 Sep 1975, p. 3: article asking what the Indonesian parliamentary delegation did not mention: Plantungan women's camp in Central Java (386 women), Bukit Duri and Semarang prisons, and named women prisoners: Umi Sardjono, chair of the underground Gerwani, vice-chairs Salawati Daud and Mudigdio, Maasje Siw
Amnesty Prisoner of Conscience Week 1975: Salawati Daud (Swiss press, Nov 1975)
Short Der Bund item (Bern, 13 November 1975, signed pd.) announcing Amnesty International's Prisoner of Conscience Week on long-term detention. It profiles 'Ibu Salawati', 66, a nationalist leader, devout Christian and mayor, later Communist MP, arrested in 1965 and held in Bukit Duri women's prison for ten years witho
Amnesty Prisoner of Conscience Week 1975: Salawati Daud (Swiss press, Nov 1975)
Berner Tagwacht, 15 Nov 1975, short Amnesty 'Prisoner of Conscience Week' profile of Charlotte Salawati (Salawati Daud), 66. It describes her as a nationalist teacher in Celebes, first and only woman mayor of the Muslim part of Makassar, later a PKI parliamentary candidate and member; arrested after October 1965 and he
[MORE] Jan 1976: Writers in Prison (Barbara Sproul), with entry on Sudjinah
Issue of the New York media magazine [MORE] (January 1976) with Barbara Sproul's Amnesty-linked article on writers jailed by repressive regimes. Its Indonesia list describes Sudjinah as a writer who contributed short stories to Harian Rakjat and worked on the editorial staff of Api Kartini, journal of Gerwani; arrested
[MORE] Jan 1976: Writers in Prison (Barbara Sproul), with entry on Sudjinah
Issue of the New York media magazine [MORE] (January 1976) with Barbara Sproul's Amnesty-linked article on writers jailed by repressive regimes. Its Indonesia list describes Sudjinah as a writer who contributed short stories to Harian Rakjat and worked on the editorial staff of Api Kartini, journal of Gerwani; arrested
La Suisse, 4 Apr 1976: Amnesty 'prisoners of the month' (Sri Kusnapsiah)
Swiss daily La Suisse, 4 April 1976. Amnesty International's 'prisoners of the month' column names Sri Kusnapsiah (Sri Kusnapsijah), 67, held over ten years without charge or trial. It says she fought for independence, joined a left-wing women's movement in the 1950s (banned in 1965), and was moved in 1971 from Bukit D
TAPOL Bulletin No. 27, April 1978, with Special Supplement on the Press
TAPOL Bulletin no. 27 (London, April 1978) with a Special Supplement on press freedom. Covers student repression, prisoner-release figures, trials and a Buru letter. The supplement notes that in 1965–66 the press published sensational reports of sexual orgies by leftwing organisations, and its list of jailed journalist
Books restrained, writers in cell: Bandar Harahap, 'Sarinah and I' (BZZLLETIN)
De Waarheid, 24 Apr 1979, p. 4: review of the BZZLLETIN issue on 'books under restraint', arguing that Indonesian literature is little translated while many writers are jailed under Suharto: Pramoedya on Buru, Bandar Harahap, Buyung Saleh and writer Sudjinah, held since 1966 in Bukit Duri women's prison. Covers Rendra
TAPOL Bulletin no. 34 (London, June 1979, 20 pp.): exposes inconsistencies in KOPKAMTIB release figures, resettlement camps in Kalimantan and Buru, the student trials, release oath and ex-tapol discrimination, the Nijmegen psycho-test cover-up, TAPOL's research on 366 1965 trials, IGGI aid. Gerwani is not named; one it
Released from detention (Sutanti Aidit), Tempo, 5 Jan 1980
Short Tempo item, 5 January 1980, on the release of Dr Soetanti Aidit, 57, widow of PKI chairman D.N. Aidit, from detention on 20 December 1979. Held from 1966 in Bukit Duri women's prison and never moved, she was separated from her five children for 13 years, declines to talk about the past and hopes to practise medic
TAPOL Bulletin no. 44 (London, March 1981): army takeover of the legal sector, Free-Aceh trials, Pramoedya's Buru novels harassed, East Timor, US human rights report. A short item (p.4) reports that eight women political prisoners long held in Bukit Duri were moved to Tangerang women's prison: Sulami (20 years), Sudjin
TAPOL Bulletin No. 132, December 1995
TAPOL Bulletin no. 132 (December 1995), London-based human rights newsletter, mostly on East Timor (Xanana Gusmao interview, embassy asylum bids), Sri-Bintang Pamungkas's trial, labour unrest and Freeport. Relevant to 1965: 'The spectre haunting Suharto' on the regime's 'formless organisations' communist myth (p.13-16)
TAPOL Bulletin No. 133, February 1996
TAPOL Bulletin no. 133 (February 1996), London human rights newsletter on East Timor, West Papua hostage crisis, British investment, street children, Suharto's cabinet rifts, SBSI union harassment, Sri-Bintang's trial and AJI. Gerwani appears only in the review of Carmel Budiardjo's 'Surviving Indonesia's Gulag' (p.19-
Tempo, 29 August 1999: 'Gulag' called the New Order (review of Carmel Budiardjo's memoir)
Tempo book review (29 Aug 1999) of Carmel Budiardjo's prison memoir on New Order detention (Likdam, Bukit Duri, 'bon' interrogations, ET stigma). It records her witness to teenage women political prisoners tortured to make the script of Gerwani's involvement in the Lubang Buaya killings work, and notes she founded Tapo
Tempo, 29 August 1999: Interview with Sulami - 'I have an obsession to expose the G30S killings'
Tempo interview (29 Aug 1999) with Sulami, former Deputy Secretary-General II of Gerwani, with a short biography: arrested 12 Feb 1967 on Amir Machmud's order, tried 1975, released 1984, torture by rattan between fingers and threats of rape; founded the 1965-66 victims research foundation. She denies any Gerwani role a
TAPOL Bulletin No. 159, Aug/Sep 2000: Carmel Budiardjo's visit to Indonesia (Sri Ambar, Sulami, YPKP)
TAPOL Bulletin no. 159 (Aug/Sep 2000), with Carmel Budiardjo's report on a visit to Indonesia (pp. 12-14). She meets some twenty former Bukit Duri prison mates, among them Sri Ambar, frail after a stroke (p. 12); visits the Tangerang home of Ibu Sulami, founder in April 1999 of YPKP, the foundation investigating the 19
TAPOL Bulletin No. 169/170, Jan/Feb 2003: obituary of Sulami (Gerwani deputy secretary-general)
TAPOL Bulletin no. 169/170 (Jan/Feb 2003), with Carmel Budiardjo's obituary of Sulami (pp. 13-15). Born Sragen 15 Aug 1926, she joined Gerwis (Gerwani from 1951), became East Java executive member (1954) and second deputy secretary-general (1957), attended WIDF meetings, and was deputy secretary-general in 1965. Arrest
Challenges of Political Rehabilitation in Post-New Order Indonesia: Gerwani (McGregor and Hearman, 2007)
McGregor and Hearman (2007) read Gerwani leaders Sulami's and Sudjinah's memoirs as political rehabilitation: distancing from the PKI, rebutting the Lubang Buaya slander, socialist critique and claims to citizenship. Key scholarly analysis of survivor memoirs.
TAPOL Bulletin No. 186, Apr 2007: Sulami's exhumation campaign; review of Kembang-kembang Genjer
TAPOL Bulletin no. 186 (April 2007). A feature (p. 19) notes Sulami's exhumation campaign and that Gerwani, before 1965 'the most active women's organisation', was banned and its members singled out. A review (pp. 21-24) of the book Kembang-kembang Genjer (foreword by Saskia Wieringa) summarises Sumilah, Tami (Njoto's
Tempo, 1 October 2012: Erwin's rice and tajin porridge (1965 detention in Jakarta)
Tempo piece (1 Oct 2012) on conditions of 1965 political prisoners in Jakarta: torture and tiny rations at Cipinang, Salemba, Kalong HQ and Bukit Duri, with testimony of Eko Wardoyo, Bedjo Untung, Jawito. Includes Gerwani member and journalist Sri Sukatno, jailed years at Bukit Duri, describing electric torture at 'Gan
Tempo, 1 October 2012: Gulag on the bank of the Lampir river (Plantungan camp)
Tempo report (1 Oct 2012) on the Plantungan camp (Kendal) for women Group B political prisoners, opened 1971 in a former leprosarium. Names Gerwani activists and others held there: Sumiyarsi Siwirini ('Lubang Buaya doctor'), Siti Suratih, Mia Bustam, Pujiati, C.H. Sumarmiyati, Mujiati. Covers conditions, 'santi aji' in
Dunia Milik Kita: liner and production notes (Dialita, 2016)
Release page for Dialita's free album Dunia Milik Kita (17 Aug 2016, Yes No Wave): ten songs, most written in prison camps (Bukit Duri, Plantungan, Ambarawa, Salemba) or by Lekra composers, arranged by young indie musicians. Documents the choir of women ex-prisoners.
The Flight of Three Gerwani Women from Bukit Duri Prison (Merdeka.com, 2012)
Merdeka.com feature (2012; YPKP repost 2017) visiting the demolished Bukit Duri women's prison: neighbours recall a 1975 escape by three alleged Gerwani women, and journalist Sri Sulistyawati describes eleven years held there without trial. Memory of a women's detention site.
Feminism as a Class Question, Part II (Ita Fatia Nadia, 2020)
Part II of Nadia's essay (südostasien 3/2020): how the army and paramilitaries used sexualised violence to destroy Gerwani after Oct 1965, the Lubang Buaya slander and film, 1966 tattoo 'searches', and New Order redefinition of women's roles. In German.
Sulami's narrative versus the New Order narrative (Rahayu, 2020)
Ruth Indiah Rahayu's 2020 essay introducing Sulami's unpublished two-volume prison novel Menanti Rembulan Ndadari, written in the 1970s, with Sulami's biography (arrested 6 Oct 1967) and the conditions of writing in Bukit Duri and Tangerang, set against New Order narratives.